Weiss, McCoy share lead

Defending champion Casey Weiss wanted to keep things simple in round one of the Coors Tournament of Champions on Thursday at Amarillo Country Club.

He accomplished his goal and as a result shares the lead with Josh McCoy at 2-under 68.

One shot back at 1-under 69 is Zack Norrell, and six-time T of C winner Tom Doughtie, the oldest player in the field at 57, is fourth at 1-over 71.

Only three of the 11 players in the 17th annual event are under par entering today's second round that will begin at 8 a.m. at Tascosa Golf Club's Tascosa layout.

''Any time I can keep it under par at Amarillo Country Club is a good round,'' said Weiss, who also won this event in 2007. ''I played a solid round, and that's what I wanted to accomplish.

''My goal was to hit fairways and greens and putt consistently well.''

He did that by hitting 13-of-14 fairways to lead the field, 13-of-18 greens in regulation (trailing only Luke Kane in that category) and needed 29 putts (which ranked fifth in the field).

He made few mistakes as he made three birdies and had only one bogey on his scorecard.

McCoy, who said he has played more golf the past three weeks than he had in more than eight months, also made three birdies and had one bogey.

He and Norrell won last week's Coors Partnership at Comanche Trail to become the final qualifiers for this event, and momentum appeared to carry over to some degree.

''I'm happy with this round,'' said McCoy, the former Perryton High standout who played at Texas A&M. ''Before playing in the Whing Ding three weeks ago, I had only played in one tournament this summer (the KVII/Toot'n Totum Charity Classic), and didn't play well.

''I'm not sure how much last week's play carried over to this round, but I'm not complaining.''

He ranked last in fairways hit with just 3-of-14 but hit 11-of-18 greens and needed only 26 putts, which ranked first along with Borger's Tyler Fernandez, who shot an opening 3-over 73.

Norrell, who is playing on a broken ankle he suffered while playing with his young sons this year, led the field with five birdies but made four bogeys in his round. He hit 7-of-14 fairways at the tree-lined ACC layout, 12-of-18 greens and had 28 putts, which tied for third with Jay Held, who opened with an 8-over 78.

Kane, who led in greens hit (14-of-18), is tied for fifth with Fernandez at 3-over 73. He has been plagued much of the summer by inconsistent putting, and it showed in this round as he needed 34, which ranked last in the field.

Colin Cruz, playing in the T of C for the first time along with McCoy, Norrell, Fernandez, Ben Prewett, Jay Held and Rick Higgins, shot 4-over 74. Prewett shot 6-over 76, and Higgins had 8-over 78.

Kyle Kelting, winner of the Miller Lite Open and Michelob Ultra Men's City Championship in early June, opened with a 7-over 77.

He was even par until hitting out of bounds twice at No. 14 en route to a quadruple-bogey 8, then made triple-bogey 7 at No. 15 before making three straight pars to conclude his round.